What it was, was football: Week 9

November 1, 2024 Shawn Krest Article, College Football, Sports
UNC receiver J.J. Jones had a big game to earn all-state honors for the week and lead the Tar Heels to a win at Virginia. (Shaffer Broughton for North State Journal)

North Carolina teams closed out October with a losing week, although the state posted a winning record against Virginia for the first week this season. Six teams have hit the six-win mark on the year, while eight are now at six losses.

Special shout-out to Johnson C. Smith, who is 8-0 for the first time in school history and beat Winston-Salem State on the road for the first time since 1975.

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North Carolina’s record: 14-17 (116-137 overall)

Last week’s winners (ranked in order of impressiveness of the victory—a combination of opponent and performance):

  1. North Carolina: 41-14 at Virginis
  2. Mars Hill: 31-17 at Virginia-Wise
  3. UNC Pembroke: 62-17 over West Virginia State
  4. NC Wesleyan: 34-31 at Southern Virginia
  5. Johnson C. Smith: 24-15 at Winston-Salem State
  6. Brevard: 25-21 at Huntingdon
  7. Shaw: 38-35 at Fayetteville State
  8. Wake Forest: 27-24 at Stanford
  9. App State: 33-26 over Georgia State
  1. Campbell: 21-7 over NC A&T
  2. Wingate: 24-15 over Catawba
  3. East Carolina: 56-34 over Temple
  4. NC Central: 16-7 over Morgan State
  5. Lenoir-Rhyne: 21-19 over Limestone

 

Last week’s losers (ranked in order of impressiveness, despite the result):

  1. Gardner-Webb: 30-24 at SE Missouri
  2. Charlotte: 33-28 at Memphis
  3. Catawba: 24-15 at Wingate
  4. Western Carolina: 44-34 at Mercer
  5. Elon: 41-21 at Hampton
  6. NC A&T: 21-7 at Campbell
  7. Duke: 28-27 to SMU in overtime
  8. Fayetteville State: 38-35 to Shaw
  9. Davidson: 48-38 to Butler
  1. Barton: 41-25 at Newberry
  2. Guilford: 42-10 at Shenandoah
  3. Greensboro: 52-16 at LaGrange
  4. Elizabeth City State: 21-20 to Lincoln, PA
  5. Winston-Salem State: 24-15 to JC Smith
  6. Methodist: 48-6 at Maryville
  7. Chowan: 38-0 at West Alabama
  8. St. Andrews: 63-0 at Reinhardt

 

Off: NC State, Livingstone

 

Remaining unbeatens (1 remaining):

Johnson C. Smith: 8-0

 

Winning records (9, same as last week):

Lenoir-Rhyne: 7-1

Wingate: 6-1

Duke, NC Central: 6-2

Winston-Salem State: 6-3

Brevard: 4-2

Livingstone, Davidson: 5-3

Shaw: 5-4

 

 

At .500 (6, up two from last week)

Western Carolina, ECU, NC State, UNC, Wake Forest: 4-4

Mars Hill: 3-3

 

Losing records (16, down two from last week):

Catawba, Elizabeth City State, Gardner-Webb, Barton, Elon: 2-6

Guilford, App State, Fayetteville State, Campbell: 3-4

Charlotte, UNC Pembroke: 3-5

NC Wesleyan, Chowan: 2-5

Greensboro: 1-6

NC A&T, Methodist: 1-7

 

Still winless (1 remaining):

St. Andrews: 0-6

 

State title standings: The race for the Mack Brown Trophy is heating up. JC Smith reached the 2-0 plateau with a win over Winston-Salem State, while Wingate took over sole possession of the top spot at 3-0 after beating Catawba. With seven in-state matchups on the schedule Saturday, look for another shakeup in the standings this time next week.

3-0         Wingate

2-0         Duke, Guilford, Wake Forest, Lenoir-Rhyne, Johnson C. Smith

1-0                 NC Wesleyan, App State, Davidson, Brevard

2-1         UNC, Charlotte, Livingstone, Campbell

2-2         NC Central, Fayetteville State, Winston-Salem State

1-1         NC State, Campbell

2-3         Shaw

1-2         Barton, Methodist, Elon, Western Carolina, Catawba

1-3         Elizabeth City State, NC A&T

0-1         Gardner-Webb, Mars Hill

0-2         ECU, Chowan, UNC Pembroke

0-3         Greensboro

 

State title games this week:

Campbell at Elon

Livingstone at Shaw

Fayetteville State at Johnson C. Smith

Catawba at Barton

Wingate at Lenoir-Rhyne

Methodist at Brevard

NC Wesleyan at Greensboro

 

Out of state battles for Week 10: 

NC Central at South Carolina State on Thursday, Gardner-Webb at Charleston Southern, UNC at Florida State,  Tulane at Charlotte, Old Dominion at App State, William & Mary at NC A&T, Davidson at San Diego, Stanford at NC State, Chattanooga at Western Carolina, Emory & Henry at Mars Hill,  Duke at Miami, Chowan at Valdosta State, Bowie State at Elizabeth City State, West Virginia Wesleyan at UNC Pembroke, Ferrum at Guilford, St. Andrews at Kentucky Christian

Off: East Carolina, Wake Forest, Winston-Salem State

Bad neighbors: Three N.C. teams won in the state of Virginia, and the Old North State had a winning record over the Commonwealth, at 3-2, for the first time this season. Of course, Virginia still has het season advantage at 28-13.

All-state performances for Week Nine:

Quarterback: Cole Gonzalez, Western Carolina, 25-for-47 for 395 yards and 2 touchdowns. That’s 1015 yards in the last two weeks.

Running backs: J’Mari Taylor, NC Central, 27 carries for 200 yards and a touchdown, Xavier Pugh, Wingate, 4 rushes for 140 yards and 2 touchdowns—a 75-yarder and a 57-yarder.

Receiver: Sincere Brown, Campbell, 5 catches for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns, JJ Jones, UNC, 5 catches for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Defensive line: Jahvaree Ritzie, UNC, 2 tackles, 1 solo, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 interception returned 84 yards for a pick six, Henry Daniel, NC A&T, 9 tackles, 4 solo, 3 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble.

Linebacker: Kaimon Rucker, UNC, 8 tackles, 5 solos, 3 sacks, 3.5 TFL, 1 interception, 1 quarterback hit, Jamari Slade, Fayetteville State, 17 tackles, 7 solos, 0.5 sacks, 0.5 TFL.

Defensive back: Ja’Marley Riddle, ECU, 3 tackles, 2 solos, 2 interceptions, including a 55-yard pick six, Mordecai McDaniel, Charlotte, 12 tackles, 10 solos, 0.5 TFL, 1 pass breakup.

Special teams: Devin Versteegen, Winston-Salem State, punted 10 times for a 50.2 average with seven 50+-yard punts and a long of 72.

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